Former NYT Executive Editor Allegedly Plagiarized Several Portions Of New Book

11:44 PM 02/06/2019 | Media

Scott Morefield | Reporter

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Multiple sources alleged on Wednesday that former New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson violated journalistic ethics by plagiarizing their work in parts of her new book, “Merchants of Truth.”

Vice News Tonight correspondent Michael Moynihan tweeted out a thread that included several “plagiarized passages.” It began by noting that Abramson had been forced to correct an error about fellow Vice correspondent Arielle Duhaime-Ross several weeks prior.

So…Jill Abramson’s book has finally hit bookstore shelves. A few weeks ago, reading a galley copy, I noticed an egregious error about my colleague @adrs. She tweeted it out, a shit storm followed, Abramson corrected the mistake.

*All three* chapters on Vice were clotted with mistakes. Lots of them. The truth promised in Merchants of Truth was often not true. While trying to corroborate certain claims, I noticed that it also contained…plagiarized passages.

The following examples from the final book—not the galley—are only from the Vice chapters (I didn’t check the others). So let’s begin…Here is Abramson on Gavin McInnes (whom she interviewed) and the Ryerson Review of Journalism https://t.co/hx0XcyZ89kpic.twitter.com/qroN59gyVk

There’s lesser stuff too; still problematic. At various points in Merchants of Truth, rather than toil in the archives, reading old issues of the magazine or watching old Vice videos, Abramson liberally borrows from those who have: https://t.co/Ux6gdDO9Qgpic.twitter.com/mEvufhFJ3J

The book ends with a final wag of the finger, reminding me that my colleagues apparently don’t possess “the expertise to compete on the biggest news stories.” If Abramson is the arbiter of ethics & expertise, I think we’re doing just fine.

First, some background: I ran my own magazine from 2011 to 2014, because there were no jobs and I need to write and try to progress. I ran Relapse Magazine literally out of my bedroom. I worked nights at a hotel to fund it. I wrote a profile of Thomas Morton in 2014.

I’m just…I don’t know. Devastated? This is just crazy. I’m just showing these screenshots so people know. I have articles to write and a book coming out in three weeks, so I have bigger shit to worry about. But shame on you, Jill. Shame on you.

Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum confronted Abramson about the allegations Wednesday night, to which Abramson responded, “I certainly didn’t plagiarize in my book. There are 70 pages of footnotes showing, you know, where I got the information.”

When asked if it could have been a “footnote issue,” Abramson replied, “No, I don’t think it’s an issue at all.” Abramson maintained that she stayed behind her work “100 percent.”